DoD News

News Article

IED Hits Convoy Transporting Iraqi Detainees, 1 Killed

By John D. BanusiewiczAmerican Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2004  One detainee was killed and 11 others were injured Jan. 29 when an improvised explosive device blew up near a coalition convoy transporting captured suspects near Mukadiyah, a coalition official said today at a Baghdad news conference.

The injured detainees were taken to a battalion aid station, and all were in stable condition, said Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for Combined Joint Task Force 7.

In other news reported by Kimmitt at the news conference, attackers bombed an Iraqi Civil Defense Corps vehicle near Baqubah, slightly injuring four ICDC soldiers, before escaping. Also on Jan. 29, Iraqi police notified coalition forces that a newly renovated police station in Karnabad was destroyed in an explosion. Kimmitt said no one was in the building. Officials suspect the same people who destroyed a government building in Galabiyah on Jan. 25 destroyed the police station, he added.

Coalition forces conducted 1,412 patrols, 32 offensive operations and 16 raids in the 24 hours before this afternoon's briefing, Kimmitt said. They captured 46 people suspected of activities against the coalition and Iraqi citizens.

In northern Iraq, soldiers arrested a man suspected in a November mortar attack, and seized $2,000 in U.S. $100 bills. A "cordon-and-knock" operation in Mosul targeted a cell of former regime loyalists. Seven people were detained.

A father and four sons suspected of attacking coalition forces for $1,500 per attack were captured in Baghdad and taken to a forward operating base for interrogation. Another capture in Baghdad netted a suspect in a rocket attack on a forward operating base. His car tested positive for explosive residue, and he was held for questioning.

Mohammed Fadid Abu, wanted on suspicion of being the primary courier for information and funding between brothers Mudhir and Musir Karbat, turned himself in to coalition forces. Mudhir Karbat has extensive international business holdings, Kimmitt said, and the coalition has strong evidence he's a primary financier for ongoing attacks in Anbar.

A special Iraqi police team disarmed two bombs found in the main court building in Hillah, Kimmitt said. And in Nasiriyah, no one was injured when a coalition patrol was fired upon. Soldiers captured two attackers, who are being questioned, the general said.